Adventures with FODMAPs – Polyols and Sweet Potato “Fries”

We’ve finally made it through the initial eight weeks of the FODMAP diet so we can begin trying to reintroduce different categories of FODMAPs into Little Man’s and our diets. Whew! It’s been a bit of a haul, and honestly it’s likely been closer to 10 weeks because we completely botched the first week or two. After that point we got into the swing of things and started seeing really great improvements in Little Man’s health. Now we get to start trying out foods, one category at a time, checking for reactions to each one, slowly going through multiple foods from each category before moving on. Let the games begin…

For more specifics on the FODMAP diet and reintroducing foods, please see Sue Shepard’s Complete FODMAP Diet book. This details the tests they ran to create the diet, the types of issues that following the diet can help, a detailed discussion of FODMAPS, foods to avoid and how to reintroduce foods for these “challenges” to see what reacts badly with an individual and what can be safely eaten. I do not attempt to be an expert on this diet, but simply am doing my best to follow the guidelines to help my family’s health.

Shepard recommends starting the reintroductions with the Polyol FODMAP category, moving slowly through up the scale of contentious other categories, and finally ending with the one that no one can actually digest well… Galactoids (aka beans… but more on those in a few weeks). Polyols are “sugar alcohols” and occur naturally in some foods, but are also used in processed foods as sweeteners. For us, the high FODMAP polyols that we used as “challenges” to reintroduce to Little Man are apples, blackberries, pears, and mushrooms, as well as the moderate polyol FODMAPs of sweet potatoes and avocados. Even though this was the least contentious of the categories to start with, it is one that I’ve been looking to forward the most because of its prevalence as a sweetener in juices, cookies, granola bars, fruit snacks, jams, and any other myriad of snack treat or food aimed towards kids. Try finding jams, juices or fruit snacks for kids that don’t contain either high fructose corn syrup (another high FODMAP, but one that we try to eliminate anyway) or some form of apple. Ugh…

Starting the reintroduction process has been nerve wracking. Little Man’s tummy was looking good and it’s difficult to put that at risk, but I’m also excited to start this process so that we can (hopefully) finally know what his triggers are. My hope is that it will be easier to only have to avoid a few triggers (please be only a few!) than the world at large.

For the reintroduction process, it’s important to not completely gorge on the food you are testing, but also to make sure that you eat a good portion. If you try too small of an amount, you may not get an accurate response. So you should try a regular-sized portion (Shepard has suggestions), see if there is a reaction, and then try again. If you have a regular sized proportion of a high FODMAP food and have a reaction, Shepard suggests that after your symptoms subside try the food again at a smaller amount. It might just be that you can only tolerate a small bit. Once you know what foods and what amounts of the foods you can (or cannot) handle, you can start to better understanding your triggers. Shepard also suggests trying these trigger foods again at a later date. Sometimes our systems change, and especially since Little Man is so young he may out grow (or may not) the unfortunate reactions he’s experiencing today.

It took us almost two weeks, but we just completed testing the Polyol FODMAP food group. Luckily for us, Little Man did great with all of the polyols we tried. He did so good, in fact, that for the first time in months I let him have one of the good fruit snack treats (sweetened with apple juice) we call fruit straws. He was ecstatic, and so far I haven’t seen any bad reactions. To celebrate this “challenge” Little Man and I ate our fruit snacks while going on an adventure walk in our neighbors’ Enchanted Forest. Aside from the fruit straws, we were also treated to our first view of a native orchid species to these woods called Fairy Slippers. The orchids are tiny, so it took us a bit of time to finally locate the amidst the larger Trilium and gorgeous yellow violets. Little Man, who is obsessed with all things Kung Fu Panda, was determined that we were having a hard time finding the Fairy Slipper orchids because a group of Croc bandits must have come through and taken them all. Luckily we chased off the Croc bandits and found the orchids. Whew!

Aside from apple, one of the polyol foods that I have been looking forward to “testing” are sweet potatoes. We are still struggling with getting Little Man to eat vegetables (and fruit in any form that is not completely pulverized or turned into jam), but one that he will eat without any question is a sweet potato. In our household we call these “french fries” even though they aren’t fried, aren’t made from regular potatoes (though you can use them if you want), nor are they in french fry shape (though you can easily cut them that way too). Ah well. The good news is that since Little Man has cleared this challenge, we can start enjoying sweet potatoes again at dinner time. Little Man’s favorite way to eat sweet potato “french fries” is in the form of Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Fries. For the reintroduction celebration of sweet potatoes, I served them as Smokey Sweet Potato Bites. I’ve included both recipes here, though the pictures are only for the Smokey Sweet Potato bites since the method is the same. When we put these on the dinner table Little Man’s eyes lit up and he literally fell on them with both hands. Dave and I were concerned that he was going to eat too many of them and therefore have a bad reaction, but all was well with the world and Little Man was super excited to have one of his favorite foods back. Whew!

If you think that you don’t like sweet potatoes, maybe give them one more chance and try these out. The cost and labor output is low, and you might be surprised by actually liking them. I, myself, only like sweet potatoes in certain dishes. I’m not a huge fan of baked sweet potatoes served like regular baked potatoes, nor do I like sweet potato fries especially if they are treated like a dessert and covered in cinnamon sugar. Apologies to all of those sweet potato lovers who like those two dishes, but they simply aren’t my thing. My classic Oven Roasted Sweet Potato “Fries” and Smokey Sweet Potato Bites, however, are totally different. The sweetness of the sweet potato is balanced with the smokey spices, and the edges of each bite are crisped in the oven. What’s not to like? Here’s how they are made.

Oven Roasted Sweet Potato “Fries”In our household, these are the classic form of “French fry” that appear on our dinner table regularly. They aren’t fried, nor are they made out of potatoes, nor are they in French fry shape (though you can easily cut them that way). What they are is delicious, and Little Man’s favorite vegetable. If you don’t think you like sweet potatoes, give these a shot. You might just change your mind.

Preheat your oven to 400°. Prepare a baking sheet by drizzling a little olive oil over it, then spreading the oil around with your fingers to evenly cover the pan. Set it aside.

Peel the sweet potatoes, and then cut them in half the long way. Then cut those halves in half the long way again. Line up your sweet potato quarters and slice them into ¼ inch “bites.” Try to keep the pieces close to the same thickness, otherwise the really skinny ones will burn before the thicker ones crisp. Once all of your sweet potatoes are chopped, place them in a large bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and toss with a large spoon until the sweet potato bites are evenly coated.

Pour the seasoned sweet potatoes out onto the prepared baking sheet. Be sure that your sweet potatoes are all in one layer, spreading them out if needed.

Bake for 30 minutes, checking the “fries” towards the end of the cooking time to ensure that they aren’t “over caramelizing.” If they are getting too dark at the corners of your baking sheet, simply flip them around with a spatula moving the darker pieces into the center and the less done pieces to the corners.

Once the fries are crispy and browned, remove the pan from the oven and move the bites with a spatula into your serving bowl. Taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary. Enjoy!

Smokey Sweet Potato BitesThese are a smoky, spiced version of the classic Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Fries that Little Man loves. That basic recipe can be a blank canvas to season with whatever spices and herbs you are feeling inspired by. I love the smokey paprika with these fries, and they pair fantastically with roasted chicken or pork, or with any hearty vegetarian main. Like with the classic version, if you don’t think you like sweet potatoes, give these a shot.

Preheat your oven to 400°. Prepare a baking sheet by drizzling a little olive oil over it, then spreading the oil around with your fingers to evenly cover the pan. Set it aside.

Peel the sweet potatoes, and then cut them in half the long way. Then cut those halves in half the long way again. Line up your sweet potato quarters and slice them into ¼ inch “bites.” Try to keep the pieces close to the same thickness, otherwise the really skinny ones will burn before the thicker ones crisp. Once all of your sweet potatoes are chopped, place them in a large bowl.

I included this picture to let you know the approximate size that I tend to buy of sweet potatoes. I generally avoid the ones that are closer to small comet size.

The look after being peeled…

Halving them lengthwise…

Then halve them lengthwise again, and slice into little arcs. These are perfect bite size (or for little fists…) bites.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and toss with a large spoon until the sweet potato bites are evenly coated with the oil and spices.

Adding the spices to the bowl. I love smoked paprika. Look at that color!

Evenly tossed raw sweet potato bites with spices and olive oil.

Pour the seasoned sweet potatoes out onto the prepared baking sheet. Be sure that your sweet potatoes are all in one layer, spreading them out if needed.

Pouring the bites onto a prepared baking sheet.

Smooth out the pile so that each bite can get nice and crispy in the oven.

Bake for 30 minutes, checking the sweet potato bites towards the end of the cooking time to ensure that they aren’t “over caramelizing.” If they are getting too dark at the corners of your baking sheet, simply flip them around with a spatula moving the more done pieces into the center and the less done pieces to the corners.

These are about halfway done. Flip them here so that both sides get golden brown, and if any on the edges are browning too quickly you can move them to the center.

Here they are almost perfect. You can taste them now to adjust for seasoning.

Once the sweet potato bites are crispy and browned, remove the pan from the oven and move the bites with a spatula into your serving bowl. Taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary. Enjoy!

Nice! Our farmer-landlord tried sweet potatoes last year, but they came up too oddly shaped to be peeled or baked. Bummer. This year I’m trying potatoes grown in recycled burlap coffee bags. It’s more or less a form of vertical gardening in that the potatoes fill up the bag as you keep adding more soil. Of course I’ve over planted, so we might end up with 2 tons of potatoes… or none… 😉